This is a nice little three-pager by York Bowen. It's part of a set called "3 Serious Dances". I think it's very pretty. It has gorgeous and lush harmonies with a touch of melancholy (which I love!). And it's not fussy. It's just one of those pieces that makes my mind wander when I play it. Like I start to think of someone and a romantic scenario plays out in my imagination. Hope it sounds okay...

That is indeed a whole lot of pretty in a small container A little Rachmaninoff, a little Puccini... I thought for a moment there was going to be an out-and-out quote of that famous aria from Madama Butterfly, but not quite.Very well played, too.

Good to have some (more) Bowen on the site. He was a marvellous piano composer whose output should be much better known. Sometimes called the "English Medtner", his music is much more accessible than Medtner's, and of course there is more than a whiff of Rachmaninov. The virtually unknown Dutch pianist Joop Celis is recording much of Bowen's work for the Chandos label, in performances that leave nothing to be desired - pianism almost in the Hamelin class.

This is a good choice, a luscious, nostalgic and affectionate piece. Excellently played.

Good to have some (more) Bowen on the site. He was a marvellous piano composer whose output should be much better known. Sometimes called the "English Medtner", his music is much more accessible than Medtner's, and of course there is more than a whiff of Rachmaninov. The virtually unknown Dutch pianist Joop Celis is recording much of Bowen's work for the Chandos label, in performances that leave nothing to be desired - pianism almost in the Hamelin class.

This is a good choice, a luscious, nostalgic and affectionate piece. Excellently played.

Thank you! I thought I was introducing the first Bowen music to the site, but then I discovered you had already done so. I wasn't surprised....

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

How about if I take my crappy little Bowen recording off site ? Then you have to make the bio

Haha…nice try. Didn’t you get the memo? I’ll remind you…the NEW rule is: Whoever submits music by a new composer has to write a composer bio for the site. Even if that person later decides to take down their recordings in an effort to get out of doing the task.

StuKautsch wrote:

Great job! Hard to say what this reminds me of; I listened to it once seriously then as background a few more times to try to come up with a comparison, but nada. Just very beautiful.

What a great flurry of recordings we have suddenly.

Seriously, Stu? Hahaha...get it? (it's a Serious Dance). But seriously, thank you! How about some new recordings from you now?!

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

Didn’t you get the memo? I’ll remind you…the NEW rule is: Whoever submits music by a new composer has to write a composer bio for the site. Even if that person later decides to take down their recordings in an effort to get out of doing the task.

A memo... ? I know nothing about it I'll submit a new rule saying that the rules do not apply to admins. Get Raymond to review that one

This is a wonderful recording, never heard a recording of Bowen before this one. Amazing how good a simple progression of chords sound with a little variation here and there. It has a bittersweet feeling to it IMO that is rarely pulled off successfully by composers, so to speak.

_________________"I don't know what music is, but I know it when I hear it." - Alan SchuylerRiley Tucker

This is a wonderful recording, never heard a recording of Bowen before this one. Amazing how good a simple progression of chords sound with a little variation here and there. It has a bittersweet feeling to it IMO that is rarely pulled off successfully by composers, so to speak.

Thank you, Riley. This piece sounds a little like Poulenc to me--another one good at bittersweet...

_________________"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties." ~ Frederic Chopin

First time I've heard this piece, but I really enjoyed your playing of it. You have a very good sense for this music and play it very convincingly in my opinion.

Bowen in his day was called the "British Rachmaninov". So I was listening to the composition using that framework. Certainly there were some fresh harmonies there and turns of phrase, but I couldn't help thinking that Rachmaninov would have made those progressions even more lush and poignant. Maybe this is to say that Rachmaninoff had no equal. So was I perhaps expecting too much of Bowen? Then again, to be fair, maybe I should hear more of his piano music before drawing any conclusion.

David

_________________"Interpreting music means exploring the promise of the potential of possibilities." David April

Thank you, David! I heard someone talking about this piece on Facebook and got interested. I'm glad I printed it out because it's so nice!! Besides what I read about Bowen when I submitted my recording, I also listened to a recording of him playing Chopin. He was a good pianist! His playing on the Ballade no. 3 has a few slips, but he sure doesn't lack in overall skill!! There's a spot in the recording between 4:24 and 4:33...his left hand...that really amazes me!!

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